Red Sox Hot Stove Weekly Round-Up (11/5 – 11/12)

Here’s your weekly round-up of Red Sox hot stove news for the second week of November, 2011.

• Yesterday, it was announced that former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon had inked a four-year, $50 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Red Sox made no former offer to Papelbon according to GM Ben Cherington, with the major sticking point being the Red Sox willingness to include a fourth year in the deal. Papelbon’s agents didn’t let Boston match Philadelphia’s offer. Cherington didn’t rule out promoting setup man Daniel Bard nor pursuing a free agent to fill the closer’s role. Danny Knobler of CBS sports has reported that the Red Sox will be in on free agents Heath Bell and Ryan Madson.
• The Red Sox have been in active negotiations with David Ortiz and both sides have expressed a willingness to bring Papi back to Boston. Cherington, in a story from WEEI’s Rob Bradford, was quoted as saying yesterday, “It’s probably less likely to be a situation where he gets into the market and there’s something that he’s pushed into a corner on. David knows we want him to be here. We want him to be back with the Red Sox. We want him in our lineup. We’ve had a lot of dialogue to see if there’s a way to do that and I think that will continue.” With a clearly defined market, it seems highly likely that Ortiz is back in a Red Sox uniform next year.
• Sox brass doesn’t seem to be particularly enamored with this year’s free agent pitching market, citing the high degree of risk with regards to signing pitchers like CJ Wilson and Mark Buehrle. “There are options, but riskier and would require some sort of bounce back from injury or bad luck or performance to some degree,” said Cherington. “We’re going to be exhaustive in looking at the ways we can build depth in our rotation and the bullpen.” The only free agent name the Red  Sox have been linked to is Mark Buehrle via Ken Rosenthal. A’s starter Gio Gonzalez has been speculated as someone whom the Red Sox may be interested in acquiring via trade according to the Globe’s Nick Cafardo.
• According to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, the Red Sox have made contact with Grady Sizemore and Michael Cuddyer. While there has been no formal discussion on contracts yet, they are also said to be very interested in Carlos Beltran. Yoenis Cespedes – the Cuban defector and highly sought after international signing – has also drawn some interest from the Red Sox, although it’s widely thought that the Marlins, Cubs and Yankees will likely go the extra mile to acquire the athletic outfielder.
• Boston’s search for a new skipper is also in full-swing, as the team wrapped up it’s interview process this week. Candidates interviewed included Blue Jays 1^st Base coach Torey Lovullo, Tigers 3B coach Gene Lamont, and Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. According to Gordon Edes of ESPN, Cherington appears to be very high on Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum to the degree that Edes believe Cherington is ‘just going through the process for the sake of due dilligence’. Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux, previously a candidate, withdrew his name from consideration.

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Red Sox Hot Stove Weekly Round-up (10/29-11/4)

Here’s the round-up of Red Sox Hot Stove news and notes for the first week of November:

• The Red Sox have kicked their search for a new Manager into second gear, bringing in a swath of names to Boston for interviews. Among those brought in included Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin and Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum. Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux and Indians Bench Coach Sandy Alomar Jr. will also be granted interviews.
• WEEI’s Rob Bradford reported that David Ortiz received no offer from the Red Sox during the five-day exclusive negotiating window. Despite there being no offer, GM Ben Cherington has spoken to Ortiz’s agents per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
• The Red Sox declined options on relief pitchers Scott Atchison and Dan Wheeler. Cherington said Wheeler’s $3 million option was declined because “We didn’t feel like we could commit that money this early in the offseason.” Declining Wheeler makes him a Type-B free agent, meaning that if he signs with another team, the Red Sox will receive a draft pick as compensation. Atchison’s option was for a 2012 MLB minimum plus $200,000. He will be retained on the team’s 40-man roster and can be kept so long as the Sox tender him a contract or offer him a slight raise. He is not eligible for arbitration.
• The Red Sox picked up SS Marco Scutaro’s $6 million option. Cherington also hinted earlier this week that the team’s Short Stop surplus could be of benefit in the trade market.
• Grady Sizemore has been rumored to be an option for the RF opening in Boston according to Michael Silverman. While there’s been no indication thus far, the Red Sox have the option to allow Josh Reddick and prospect Ryan Kalish compete for the spot next season or explore the free agent market. In the Reddick/Kalish scenario, it’s believed that the Sox will likely add a right handed bat to compliment whichever young lefty wins out during Spring Training. Sizemore is the latest name to pop up in a plethora of interesting OF options for the Red Sox. Carlos Beltran, Josh Willingham, Michael Cuddyer and David DeJesus are amongst some of the other names rumored to be fits for the spot.
• The Red Sox have tossed around the idea of adding Daniel Bard to the rotation, but the likelihood of it happening is low. Jerry Spar has the news over at WEEI.
• It should also be added that Gammons doesn’t think the Red Sox will get much in return for Theo Epstein. Compensation talks are still ongoing as of today, and the Commissioner has granted an extension. By all accounts, talks are going slowly, but are very amicable now that it’s Epstein and Cherington handling the discussion.
• The Red Sox continued their house-cleaning Thursday, firing both Strength and Conditioning Coach Dave Page as well as Assistant Athletic Trainer Greg Barajas.
• It appears as if the Baltimore Orioles may have interest in Red Sox executive Alard Baird as a potential fit as GM. The Orioles have had difficulty filling the position vacated by Andy McPhail, who left the organization last month. The job was offered to Blue Jays Assistant GM Tony LaCava earlier this week, but he turned them down. D’Backs Assistant GM Jerry DiPito also turned down overtures. This has led to the Orioles expanding their search. According to many, the Orioles job is not seen as a very appealing position.

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